The Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker 18-1/2 in. Smoker is great for slow-cooking turkeys, ham, whole fish and more. The smoker features a porcelain-enameled bowl, lid and water pan and provides 481 sq. in. of cooking area for ease of use. It also has an aluminum door, 4 no-rust aluminum vents, 2 plated-steel cooking grates to help ensure strength. The SMC features an innovative temperature grommet, which allows you to accurately monitor the heat inside the smoker without opening the door.

I bought mine at my local Home Depot. You'll need a flathead screwdriver and a 7/16 wrench for most of it, and a small phillips screwdriver for the last easy step. I assembled it in about 20 minutes. This baby has a gorgeous finish and you'll freak out at how big the water pan is. 'Water pan' is not even a fair characterization of it. It should be called the Tsunami Bowl. I wrap mine in foil so I don't have to clean it every time I use it. Anyway....before I cooked on it, I wanted to season it. The first step was to burn a full load of charcoal in it without food (or water) at 350 degrees and above for as long as it would burn. Then I cleaned out the ash and using the Minion method (and someRead More

I bought mine at my local Home Depot. You'll need a flathead screwdriver and a 7/16 wrench for most of it, and a small phillips screwdriver for the last easy step. I assembled it in about 20 minutes. This baby has a gorgeous finish and you'll freak out at how big the water pan is. 'Water pan' is not even a fair characterization of it. It should be called the Tsunami Bowl. I wrap mine in foil so I don't have to clean it every time I use it. Anyway....before I cooked on it, I wanted to season it. The first step was to burn a full load of charcoal in it without food (or water) at 350 degrees and above for as long as it would burn. Then I cleaned out the ash and using the Minion method (and some fist sized chunks of Apple and Cherry wood) I did a slow burn (5-7 hours) at about 225-250 degress with some bacon strips, some pork fat, and some chicken thighs. I wasn't planning to eat any of it, so I didn't salt or season any of it. I never even lifted the lid for about 6 1/2 hours. But when I got finished, the chicken and bacon looked so good I had to try it, and it was literally some of the best tasting most tender chicken I have ever tasted, and that was without one single grain of salt or seasoning. And the bacon was crispy and smokey. WOW. So, I seasoned it one more time the same way and then I was ready to cook. I've cooked with a lot of gear and I have to say that this is one of the easiest cookers that I have worked with that still gives you competition results. As a general rule, always leave the top vent fully open and use the three vents at the bottom to control your temp. Once I get mine settled in around 250 I literally have left it for 4-5 hours without even checking on it. When I come back it's still hovering around 225 like a loyal friend! For longer smokes you'll have to add some more fuel, but if you max out the charcoal ring and keep the Tsunami Bowl full, you could go 10-12 hours without refueling using the Minion method, which is basically putting unlit charcoal in first and then adding hot coals to it so that the hot coals will eventually light the unlit coals for a long slow burn. I fill the charcoal ring half full of unlit coals, then I move all of the them to the perimeter of the ring. Then I bury some apple and cherry wood (or whatever you like) in the unlit coals. Finally I dump hot coals from a chimney into the middle and throw a couple of chunks of wood on top. Then I adjust the bottom vents to about 3/4 closed to get into the smoking range. You may have to adjust these a few times on a long burn. These cookers seem expensive, but not compared to many BBQ smokers and not when you see how long they last (I have other Weber gear too) or taste the food that comes out of them. I love mine and highly recommend it!

(Ps. My nickname says WeberNewbie, but I haven't been a newbie for a long time. I should have never picked that name when I first registered because now HD won't let me change it. But it was my fault, not theirs.) Anyway, enjoy!!Read Less

+30points

33out of36found this review helpful.

Brinkmann Gas Vertical Smoker

This black Brinkmann Gas Vertical Smoker is perfect for your next grilling event. Heavy-gauge steel construction makes this smoker highly durable, and its dual front door design offers easy access to the food and water pans. An integrated ignition provides a quick start, and the stainless-steel burner puts out 12,000 BTUs for consistent heat output and even cooking.

I bought this smoker from Home Depot almost two years ago and have loved it. I've cooked just about everything in it and have used different woods, etc...with great results. Assembly was easy and the temperature is very easy to maintain. I have some advice though. First, let me give you some background. As I said before, the smoker has worked flawlessly in general, but recently I had some major problems with the food coming out black (not burned). It was only on the ouside of the food, not the inside, but it was a nasty oily black grime that looks like soot and made the food very undesireable. I wasn't doing anything different, so I was pulling my hair out trying to figure it out. I cleanedRead More

I bought this smoker from Home Depot almost two years ago and have loved it. I've cooked just about everything in it and have used different woods, etc...with great results. Assembly was easy and the temperature is very easy to maintain. I have some advice though. First, let me give you some background. As I said before, the smoker has worked flawlessly in general, but recently I had some major problems with the food coming out black (not burned). It was only on the ouside of the food, not the inside, but it was a nasty oily black grime that looks like soot and made the food very undesireable. I wasn't doing anything different, so I was pulling my hair out trying to figure it out. I cleaned it out profusely, but I still had the same problem. Long story short, I Googled my problem and discovered that if you have a large (or small) mostly yellow flame, then you have a bad mixture of propane and air which causes the flame to burn too rich, and produces soot. You will see soot on the bottom of your wood pan and on the FOOD! You always want a BLUE flame that has yellow tips. This means that your smoker is burning clean. So after some more research I bought a venturi brush and cleaned the inside of the venturi tube that is between the control knob and the puck burner (bugs and spiders can get in there and build nests and disrupt the flow of propane and air) and WHAMO I got a blue flame. I tested it out on some burgers and was back in business again. I was so relieved because I thought this smoker was ruined. This is a GREAT smoker. Some tips are: 1) Make sure your flame is predominantly BLUE, not yellow. Yellow tips on the flame are normal. 2) Don't overfill the water pan (add more fluid as needed, but don't overfill or the smoke will cool excessively and will condense on the food (black grime on your food that tastes terrible). 3) Use wood chunks not chips (the chips immediately light on fire and produce soot on your FOOD) the chunks will burn slowly and smolder producing a slow but steady light smoke. 4) Don't add too much COLD food at once. This causes the smoke to cool and condence when it touches the food leaving the nasty black grime that I keep mentioning. 5) Finally, your smoke (coming out of the smoker ) should be a thin blue-ish smoke, not a thick white smoke. If it's anything other than thin blue smoke, check above tips #1-4. Happy smoking!!Read Less

+31points

31out of31found this review helpful.

Weber Performer Charcoal Grill with Touch-N-Go Gas Ignition in Black

The Weber Performer Charcoal Grill is one of Weber's most versatile grills. It features a Touch-N-Go gas ignition system that ignites charcoal briquets with the push of a button. Also, the classic porcelain-enameled bowl and lid with a One-Touch Cleaning system and high capacity ash catcher that makes clean up hassle free. Storage options are plentiful with the CharBin storage container which protects your charcoal from the elements and the built-in Thermoset work table that provides a great work surface for preparing your next grilled masterpiece. Also features a wire bottom shelf, no-rust aluminum vent and a glass-reinforced nylon handle.

I can't say enough good things about this grill. I have always used gas grills because charcoal was such a hassle. I've always wanted to own a Weber and I did a lot of reseach before I bought this. It seemed really expensive for a charcoal grill. But I am extremely satisfied...more than satisfied actually. I am thrilled to own this grill. Assembly is very easy, and I HATE putting together stuff after I buy it. This took 10 minutes. The quality of everything is impressive, especially the pit itself. Lighting the coals is a breeze...turn on the gas, press the iginiter, wait 5-10 minutes and turn the gas off. A few minutes later, the coals are ready. Never thought I would use it during theRead More

I can't say enough good things about this grill. I have always used gas grills because charcoal was such a hassle. I've always wanted to own a Weber and I did a lot of reseach before I bought this. It seemed really expensive for a charcoal grill. But I am extremely satisfied...more than satisfied actually. I am thrilled to own this grill. Assembly is very easy, and I HATE putting together stuff after I buy it. This took 10 minutes. The quality of everything is impressive, especially the pit itself. Lighting the coals is a breeze...turn on the gas, press the iginiter, wait 5-10 minutes and turn the gas off. A few minutes later, the coals are ready. Never thought I would use it during the week, but we use it almost every night now. I haven't even touched my gas grill or my smoker since I bought the Performer a month ago. I LOVE it. Food tastes better with charcoal, and it's very easy to add wood and more coals with the flip up grates on the main cooking grate. The Performer looks nice too. I could not be happier. Expensive, but the proof is in the pudding. Buy it. You'll be really happy once you realize what you've got!!Read Less